Direct Cremation in Bristol

If a person has died in Bristol and you wish to arrange for them a direct cremation funeral, there are two things that you need to do:

You must register the death within five days at your local register office. You may also start the process here.

To complete the registration, the registrar will need to receive a medical certificate.

If the deceased has died while in hospital then the bereavement team should send the medical certificate directly to the registrar.

If, however, the deceased has passed away at home, then you will need to arrange for the visit of a doctor to carry out this service for you.

Once you have registered the death you should be issued with:

• A Death Certificate (‘form BD8’); and
• A Certificate for Burial or Cremation (‘the green form’).
  

Please note that if the deceased is in the care of a local hospital or public mortuary, these steps must normally be completed before they will agree to release the body to your nominated funeral provider.

The exception to this process is if the death has been referred to a coroner. In this case, the coroner will take the deceased into their care before completing an investigation to establish the cause of death. The coroner may issue you with an interim death certificate to begin the process of arranging the deceased’s affairs. Once the coroner has completed their investigation they will issue you with the full paperwork.

In all cases, you should not finalise funeral arrangements until the legal processes are complete.

Coroner’s Court
Old Weston Road
Flax Bourton
Bristol
BS48 1UL
01275 461920
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avoncoronersteam@bristol.gov.uk
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Open: 7am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Please note that if the death has been referred to the local coroner, then you will need to wait for this process to be completed before finalising funeral arrangements for the deceased. For further information, please click the following buttons: